Communications media and devices serve to interconnect significant numbers of people. These media and devices are often mass manufactured, resulting in large numbers of substantially identical communications components. This strategy may provide some advantages, for example, in terms of cost. However, it does not account for the dramatic differences that can be observed in the communications styles of different persons or different communities of persons. Some aspects of communication style that can impact the use of a communications device include language preferences (e.g., English, Japanese, etc.) and preferences for visual or audible output, just to name a few.
One area where communication style can have a significant impact on the use of a communications device is within the deaf community. Current communications media and devices already address people with special needs, such as the deaf. For example, deaf users employ text telephones (also known as “teletypes” or “TTYs”) and text messaging to communicate both among each other and also with persons capable of hearing. However, many deaf persons would prefer to receive content that is “signed,” for example, in American Sign Language (ASL) rather than written, say, in English. Conveying signed content means relaying content using sign language, which entails the use of upper body gestures in combination with facial expressions. There is little relationship between the word sequence of an English sentence and the corresponding sign language translation, and as such, regular users of sign language would prefer to communicate using pure sign language. Unfortunately, most communications devices are not equipped to facilitate signed conversations.
One communications device that is available to deaf persons for supporting signed conversations is video phones, an example being the Sorensen Video Phone. These devices allow persons to send to one another visual images of themselves, thereby providing means for conversing in sign language. However, these devices are not typically mobile, and also tend to support only the exchange of visual information with other like devices, rather than facilitating communications with a range of devices and users.